No One Asked Me But… (November 22, 2023)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but…Last week the Moapa Valley community celebrated the Festival of Trees. This is our community’s traditional kick off for the celebration of the holiday season.

Christmas is an interesting birthday party where everyone gets a gift but the birthday Boy. That however, is a topic for another day.

Lost in all of this celebration is the fact that Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. This is the day associated with the eating of turkey and cranberries. The turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy are welcomed. The pumpkin pie is tolerable. But I am not big on the stuffing or the cranberries.

I suppose the question is how Thanksgiving became a national holiday? I know it is a day set aside as a four-day weekend. This meets the federal mandate to change holidays to the ending or beginning of weeks instituting the long week-end.

One may ask: ‘Why turkey?’ Why not prime rib? The answer most Americans will give to that question is that turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving day dinner celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621. And most would be wrong.

The Pilgrims’ records do not mention turkey at all. It merely says “fowl” and deer were served at the first Thanksgiving Dinner. The venison was supplied by the local Native Americans who were invited to attend.

One might question what the Pilgrims had to be thankful for since the majority of the settlers had died since their arrived in the New World. However, being believers in predestination, the Pilgrims were probably thankful that they were not numbered among those of their party who were no longer with them.

The turkey did not become the standard main course of the Thanksgiving dinner until the twentieth century. In fact, in the early 1700’s Founding Father Ben Franklin implied that the turkey might be selected as our national emblem.

Franklin wrote to his daughter criticizing the original eagle design for the Great Seal. In the letter, Franklin wrote that the “Bald Eagle…is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself.”

About the turkey, Franklin wrote that – in comparison to the bald eagle – the turkey is “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America…He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage.”

While Benjamin Franklin defended the honor of the turkey against the bald eagle, contrary to myth, Ben did not propose it become one of America’s most important symbols.

You may object to the informality of me using his first name, but I think I do remember him as a student in my third period class.

The Turkey day tradition became firmly established only after World War II due to an aggressive marketing campaign on the part of the poultry industry. The advertisement experts along with the developers of hybrid gobblers invented the supposed connection of the turkey and the Pilgrims.

Thanksgiving Day celebrations were intermittent in America until after 1863. For forty years, Sarah Josepha Hale editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book waged a one-woman campaign for a regular national day of thanksgiving. Finally, President Abraham Lincoln caved into her nagging and declared that the last Thursday in November would thereafter be Thanksgiving day; and who is going to dispute Honest Abe.

Once again, my family will gather at my son’s house in Las Vegas and imbibe in the fruits of his great turkey hunt. For weeks before Thanksgiving, he has been hunting daily for the largest turkey he can capture. He will frequent the major hunting grounds for large turkeys, including such wilderness areas as Smith’s, Costco, Sam’s Club, etc. He will risk frostbit as he spends endless hours in the frozen food sections where these animals are known to hang out.

Gold Star Award… I spent last Wednesday and Thursday evening at the school play. The play was Harvey, by Mary Chase.
It was a play about a family who was plagued by a six-foot one-inch invisible rabbit.
More importantly, it was about a teacher and her class that joined together to complete a formidable task in an excellent manner.

I have a standard to measure all my experiences with the theatre. That standard was set by the best drama teacher in America, Mr. Ron Dalley, who taught theatre at MVHS for decades. Unfortunately like all of us, he grew old and has retired. But he left a legacy and a daughter to follow him. Dr. Kenna Higgins has followed in her father’s footsteps with distinction.

Not only were the sets she and her crew built a remarkable feat, the young actors and actresses exceled in their roles. It is amazing what they have done in overcoming the handicap placed on them by cutting class time from 84 minutes to 50 minutes, but they have done as all good teachers and students do in the face of adversity. They adapted, improvised and overcame.

I am now going to jump into what you may consider a hyperbole but those who saw the play will know it is not.

For four years I was a season ticket holder to theater productions at the Smith Center, the premier theater experience in Las Vegas. In that time, I never saw a production that outshined the presentation by this group of youngsters. If you saw it, you would agree. If you did not see it, you missed out. I am sure they will have additional productions this year and I am looking forward to their next effort.

Thought of the week… Here’s a toast for your Thanksgiving dinner guests. After you read it you will know why the author wants to remain anonymous. “May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump. May your potatoes and gravy have nary a lump. May your yams be delicious and your pies take the prize, and may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs!”